The Marvellous Mayflower

Mr S and I have always enjoyed going to the theatre and had been keen to try it out as a family for a while. Having tried a cinema trip for the first time as a family at the start of the summer holidays last year, we felt confident Miss S would manage and be happy during a theatre trip. Miss S has a startle reflex due to her Cerebral Palsy which means her body will jump at sudden or loud noises and this can be uncomfortable for her at times. Going to the cinema, we found that although Miss S does jump at times, she manages it well and always wants to go back. We have lost count of how many films we have now seen at the cinema! Our first planned trip to try out the theatre was to see a pantomime last Christmas at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton. With Covid restrictions still so changeable at the time, we were SO relieved and excited that the Cinderella pantomime could still go ahead as planned! 

We loved the pantomime and everyone else we spoke to who had also been to see it, felt the same! As fans of Strictly, it was great seeing Craig Revel Horwood on stage as the evil Step-Mother and Debbie McGee made a wonderful fairy godmother. The absolute stars of the show for us however, and the pair that got us howling with laughter and dancing and singing along was Buttons (Richard Cadell) and SOOTY! Sweep also made an appearance and serenaded us with his own rendition of Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma which was hilarious! Sooty and Sweep’s appearances were just as much for the parents as they were for the kids (if not more!) taking us right back to our childhood, and they certainly gained a new fan in Miss S too! We enjoyed our visit so much, Miss S and I booked to go back to see the little yellow bear in his very own show a few months later and even got the chance to meet him and Richard after which we both loved! So on to the practicalities of booking and visiting the Mayflower... 

The Mayflower Experience...

The Mayflower offers an Access Membership Scheme which is free to join upon providing medical evidence and offers a discounted rate for a companion ticket at half price. Each time we have spoken to the Box Office staff, they have been so helpful from reserving tickets for us to talking through the different options for wheelchair spaces to ensure we chose the best option for Miss S. 

On arrival...

Access to the foyer is nice and easy with level access and automatic doors to the side of the main entrance. There is however, no need to enter the foyer unless you want to, as the Mayflower has a disabled entrance to the side of the building. The accessible entrance consists of a ramp down to a side door to reach the stalls. As you enter, straight in front of you is a lounge area which we were told you could order drinks and have them brought to you. In this area there is also a Changing Places facility! We didn't spot this on the Mayflower's website, so this was a very welcome surprise! On our second visit, Miss S and I did have a problem with the hoist as it had run out of charge! I did point this out to a member of staff to try to avoid that happening again. 

Seating...

We sat in a similar spot for both of our visits with Miss S parked up in her wheelchair space and myself / rest of us sat next to her. Miss S was using her power chair and our route in to the theatre, changing places facilities and seating was accessible throughout. 

In the words of a certain star of the Panto...the Mayflower was just FAB-U-LOUS! Our first visit had shown us that this is an inclusive, accessible experience we can all enjoy together as a family and that first visit gave me the confidence to book another show shortly after and take Miss S on my own! We now always keep an eye on what is coming up at the Mayflower and we know we will have many more visits in the future.